Another victim, described in court as ‘extremely vulnerable’ and unable to look after herself, told a jury how she was 19 when she was given cannabis and raped by Abdul Milnoyee.

She was then passed on to other men.

She said: ‘They just sit there and have a couple of drinks, have a couple of puffs of cannabis, get up and dance. And they try and get into the bedroom by grabbing us around the belly – and when you say ‘no’ they still try and drag you though to the bedroom.

‘Basically they think that, with them having a load of money, and they’re married and they’ve got kids and all of that, that they can go for younger, like our age, and have sex with them for like £40, or a tenner or something that that.

‘Ever since I’ve kept to myself. I haven’t told my dad, my family members. I couldn’t bring myself to tell anyone because I felt ashamed, embarrassed.

‘And people were going ‘Have you ever been raped?’ Well I bloody well have. Now I’m telling you it’s proper horrible. I need somewhere to go to be safe.’

Another neighbour said: ‘About two weeks ago [she and her partner] left with suitcases and said they’d be away a while.

‘It’s very frightening knowing she’s been living among young families when she’s been part of that gang.’

Officers were not sure at first whether Gallon was working with the abusers or was one of their victims.

The decision to prosecute her eventually went all the way up to the Director of Public Prosecutions, before it was decided she was an active part of the gang and was not herself a victim.

As well as Gallon, 17 men were convicted of or admitted charges including rape, supplying drugs and inciting prostitution, in a series of trials at Newcastle Crown Court.

Those prosecuted were from the Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Indian, Iraqi, Iranian and Turkish communities and mainly British-born, with most living in the West End of Newcastle.

Who was in the sex gang and what did they all do?

Defendants who have been sentenced:

Saiful Islam, 35, of Newcastle, was jailed for 10 years in January 2016 for raping a 15-year-old girl in 2011.

Yasser Hussain, 28, of Newcastle, was jailed for two years in October 2015 for a sex attack and for allowing his premises to be used in the supply of drugs after a jury heard how he hosted parties.

Mohammed Hassan Ali, 34, of Newcastle, was jailed for seven years in December 2015 for sexual activity with a child, supplying cannabis and possession with intent to supply M-Kat.

Redwan Siddique, 32, of Newcastle, was jailed for 16 months in February for supplying M-Kat to a 19-year-old in return for sex at his student digs in 2013.

Defendants yet to be sentenced:

Carolann Gallon, 22, from Newcastle, aged 17-18 at the time, admitted three offences of trafficking girls for the purposes of sexual exploitation.

Mohammed Azram, 35, of Newcastle, admitted five drugs offences and was convicted of one count of sexual assault and one count of conspiracy to incite prostitution for gain.

Nashir Uddin, 35, of Newcastle, was convicted of sexual assault, allowing premises to be used to supply drugs, conspiracy to incite prostitution and who admitted four counts of supplying drugs and three of possessing drugs.

Abdulhamid Minoyee, 34, of Newcastle, was convicted of rape and sexual assault and pleaded guilty to supplying drugs.

Eisa Mousavi, 42, of Newcastle, was convicted of three counts of rape, two counts of supplying drugs, allowing premises to be used for the supply of drugs and conspiracy to incite prostitution.

Monjur Choudhury, 33, of Newcastle, was convicted of supplying drugs, permitting premises to be used for the supply of drugs and conspiracy to incite prostitution.

Taherul Alam, 32, Newcastle, who was convicted of two counts of supplying drugs, one count of permitting premises to be used for supplying drugs, attempting to sexually assault, and of conspiracy to incite prostitution.

Prabhat Nelli, 33, Newcastle, who was convicted of two counts of supplying drugs and one count of conspiracy to incite prostitution.

Nadeem Aslam, 43, Newcastle, who admitted possessing cannabis and was convicted of two counts of supplying drugs, one count of possessing drugs and one count of permitting premises to be used in the supply of drugs.

The final trial saw three men convicted and one man admit charges against him.

Habibur Rahim, 34, of Fenham, was convicted of two counts of conspiracy to incite prostitution, relating to eight different victims. He supplied them with cannabis and mephedrone and was also convicted of a number of trafficking for sexual exploitation offences. He was convicted of one count of rape.

Abdul Sabe, 40, of Newcastle, was convicted of conspiracy to incite prostitution, conspiracy to traffic for sexual exploitation, conspiracy to sexual assault, and supplying drugs to victims. He was already on the sex offenders’ register.

Badrul Hussain, 37, of Newcastle, was convicted of allowing drugs to be used at his premises and of supplying drugs. He was cleared of inciting prostitution for gain.

Mohibur Rahman, 44, known to victims as Jimmy, admitted conspiracy to incite prostitution and five drugs charges.

Defendants not yet sentenced will be back next month.

The growing number of towns where sex gangs prey on children

After a gang of 17 men and one woman was convicted over the sexual abuse of young girls, Newcastle joins a growing list of English towns and cities where sex rings have been exposed. Others include:

Rotherham – The issue of child abuse in the town first came to light in 2010 when five Asian men were jailed for sexual offences against under-age girls.

A 2014 inquiry found there were more than 1,400 victims of grooming and sex exploitation in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013.

Rochdale – The trial of nine Asian men for grooming young white girls for sex attracted widespread public outrage and sparked a national debate when they were convicted in 2012.

The gang received jail sentences of between four and 19 years for offences committed against five girls – aged between 13 and 15 – in and around Rochdale between 2008 and 2010.

The case returned to the public consciousness earlier this year when the BBC broadcast its Three Girls drama based on the experiences of some of the victims.

Oxford – In 2013, five members of a sadistic paedophile ring were handed life sentences, while two others were each jailed for seven years at the Old Bailey.

The court heard how six girls, aged between 11 and 15, were plied with alcohol and drugs before being forced to perform sex acts.

Shabir Ahmed, convicted of 30 child rape charges in Rochdale

All of the men were of Pakistani origin apart from two brothers, who were from north Africa.

Bristol – Some 13 Somali men were jailed for more than a total of more than 100 years after they were convicted in 2014 of running an inner city sex ring.

Victims as young as 13 were preyed upon, sexually abused and trafficked across Bristol to be passed around the men’s friends for money.

Aylesbury – Six Asian men were jailed in 2015 for grooming vulnerable under-age white girls between 2006 and 2012.

The Old Bailey heard victims would be plied with alcohol and forced to perform sex acts for as little as ‘the price of a McDonalds’.

Peterborough – A total of 10 men were convicted of child sex crimes in the town, including ‘predatory’ restaurant boss Mohammed Khubaib, who was originally from Pakistan.

He was jailed for 13 years at the Old Bailey in 2015, after he was found guilty of forcing a 14-year-old girl to perform a sex act on him and nine counts of trafficking for sexual exploitation, involving girls aged from 12 to 15, between 2010 and 2013.

Police missed chance to catch Asian sex gang six years ago

By Richard Spillett, Crime Correspondent for MailOnline

Police found Abdul Sabe with three drunken teenagers in 2011 but decided the girls were with him ‘of their own free will’

Members of an Asian sex gang were free to abuse girls as young as 11 after police missed opportunities to catch them.

The horrific details of the latest sex ring caught molesting vulnerable girls in a British city were exposed yesterday when the last of 17 men and one woman were convicted of a catalogue of offences in Newcastle.

But police have been criticised over failures to tackle the issue earlier on.

One paedophile, Bahmani Ahmadi, eventually caught in the same operation, was first arrested in 2012 but released after officers failed to examine data on his mobile phone that would have shown he had been grooming youngsters for sex.

He was eventually arrested again in 2014 and admitted 18 charges against ten girls, including one who was only 11.

In another case, police visited a flat where two other members of the ring, Abdul Sabe and Habibur Rahim, as long ago as 2011 but decided three drunken teenagers were their ‘of their own free will’, The Times reported today.

Abdul Sabe and Habibur Rahim were reported to officers by an off-duty probation officer in 2011. But they were not stopped until several years later and were charged in 2015

Harrowing evidence of 13-year-old victim raped by men ‘like they were in a relay race’

One girl who gave evidence claimed she was repeatedly raped by men acting as if they were in a ‘relay race’ at one of the sex parties.

The vulnerable 13-year-old, who was in local authority care, told the court how she would regularly be supplied with cash, cigarettes and drugs in exchange for sex.

She spoke of how she would be picked up in a Mercedes from the children’s home where she was living and taken to flats in Newcastle to be used by anyone who wanted her.

Prosecutor John Elvedge QC told the court how during one attack she was high on cocaine while men took turns to have sex with her.

One victim, who was in local authority care, told how she was taken to flats around Newcastle and passed between men for rape

Mr Elvedge said: ‘She said she felt wrecked. The man who brought the Mcat had sex with her when she was in no position to consent.

‘The second man was followed by several others, all taking advantage of her.

‘She said it was like a relay race, one man after another, each having sexual intercourse with her to which she did not consent.’

On another occasion, the girl was taken to a party at a flat where there was a group of seven men in a room with a Kurdish flag on the wall and was given Mcat, the court heard.

Mr Elvedge added: ‘She attempted to resist the first man. She was given more Mcat then, one by one, they took their turn having sexual intercourse with her.’

The court heard when she left she was driven back to the children’s home and given £200 along with more Mcat.

The girl was a frequent runaway who would regularly go missing.

Mr Elvidge said: ‘The young women are now in their early 20s. You will gather when they were involved with the defendants they were leading extraordinary lives.

‘The prosecution say it was their vulnerability that made it easier for them to be exploited and abused. They were females who were relatively naive and vulnerable.

‘They were the victims of organised, well-practised cynical exploitation and were passed between abusers.’

Ahmadi, 25, lured his victims into meeting him by posing on Facebook as a 14-year-old girl called Holly.

He came to the notice of Northumbria Police in June 2012 after it was alleged that he had sex with a 15-year-old girl living in a care home.

But he was released without charge after a senior officer decided that the case should not be referred to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Paedophile Bahmani Ahmadi attacked at least ten girls as young as 11 after he was arrested by police only to be released without charge

When he was eventually arrested again in 2014 as part of Operation Sanctuary – a police operation which brought the last of the 18 sex gang members to justice this week. He was however dealt with separately.

He later admitted sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl in relation to the 2012 incident, as well as, among other offences, sexually assaulting two children, trafficking for sexual exploitation and inciting girls under the age of 13 to engage in sexual activity.

A officer was dismissed for ‘gross negligence’ in relation to his case.

In the case of Abdul Sabe and Habibur Rahim, an off-duty probation officer Elaine Capper, called the police after she saw them herding three drunken teenage girls towards the back of a 4×4.

She phoned police and flagged down a patrol car, who went to the flat where the pair had taken the girls.

A PC Victoria Threadgold told the court that although officers were concerned to find ‘three young females’ in the company of a registered sex offender, there was ‘no suggestion of coercion or pressure to keep them there’, The Times reported.

The court heard a police log entry made by PC Threadgold said the girls had gone to the flat ‘of their own free will’ and that there was ‘nothing to suggest anything untoward’.

DCI Claire Wheatley today said the force had looked at whether exploitation was going on in 2013 but initially believed ‘the problem wasn’t there’.

RAPIST TOLD WIFE HE WAS GOING FISHING BEFORE SEXUALLY ASSAULTING GIRL

One of the gang convicted of grooming vulnerable girls on Tyneside told his wife he was going night fishing before he picked up a drunk 15-year-old on the street and raped her.

Saiful Islam, 35, spotted his victim outside a supermarket on his way home from work in 2011 and returned after making an excuse to his wife.

He then bought the victim Malibu, took her to premises where he and friends knew they could abuse girls, and raped her.

At a hearing in January 2016 which can only be reported now, Judge Penny Moreland sentenced him to 10 years, saying: ‘She was young, she was scared and she was a girl limited in her ability and understanding.

‘You hurt her while you were raping her.’

She told BBC Radio 4’s Women’s Hour: ‘As soon as those two young women came forward and we were made aware of this issue we absolutely investigated it from the outset and left no stone unturned. We went very big with this investigation and immediate listened to victims.

‘Initially, we were going to speak to victims. Now we understand that they didn’t realise they were victims themselves. They were saying “no nothing happened, I’ve got nothing to say”.

‘It’s a very different approach we have now. We have a bespoke victim team… we’ve had a massive cultural change in identifying what sexual exploitation is.’

Police were also criticised for paying a convicted child rapist almost £10,000 to spy on parties where it was suspected under-age girls were fed drugs and sexually abused.

The informant, known only as XY, was recruited despite being a sex offender who had drugged an under-age girl and invited another man to rape her after he had done so, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

He said: ‘We have thrown the kitchen sink at this – a team of 50 officers have worked on this inquiry for almost three and a half years and continue to do so.

‘We have not and will not stop. We have employed every technique available to us, covert and overt, in tackling the problem.

‘There has been no political correctness here. These are criminals and there has been no hesitation in arresting them and targeting them using all the means at our disposal.

On the issue of paying the child rapist, he added: ‘We have to step into a murky, a dangerous and a shadowy world and the people who are going to provide us with that information that will protect victims, that will stop other women and girls becoming victims of this abuse, it’s not the postmaster or the district nurse, or some other person in a position of authority.

‘They are the very people who themselves may well have committed these vile acts.

‘This is the world that we have to step into in policing and it is dangerous and it is difficult but that is what we are prepared to do.

‘We’ll do everything we can within the law to bring these people to justice.’

MP Damien Green discusses the use of police informants

Abuser whose flat the gang used smiled at girl who challenged him

Some of the so-called ‘sessions’ took place at Todds Nook flats in Newcastle

Girls as young as 14 visited the flat of one gang member, Eisa Mousavi, where Mcat was freely available.

Prosecutor Mr Elvedge said: ‘One girl became so intoxicated she became unable to refuse him for sex.

‘She only had sex with him because she was high and heavily addicted to Mcat. She returned many times to feed her addiction.

‘One time she refused Mousavi’s request for sex and he continued to pester her. He was manipulating her. She was shouting that she didn’t want to have sex.

‘Other girls told him to leave her alone and he banished them and told them they would get no more drugs.’

Mousavi raped the girl on more than one occasion. When she asked for more drugs, he told her: ‘Just do it, you know the deal.’

Mr Elvidge said: ‘She told him he couldn’t keep treating her like this but he just smiled.’

SEXUAL EXPLOITATION IS THE ‘CHALLENGE OF OUR GENERATION’

Sexual exploitation is the ‘challenge of our generation’ and must be considered socially unacceptable in all communities, a top policeman has said.

Chief Constable Steve Ashman, of Northumbria Police, also said strong punishments are needed to deal with the ‘vile’ individuals who target vulnerable people, and to act as a deterrent.

His statement followed a number of trials that heard how immature teenagers were plied with drugs and alcohol and then raped or persuaded into engaging in sexual activity with older men.

The officer suggested something must have gone wrong in society for such actions to be considered acceptable.

Mr Ashman said: ‘The sexual exploitation of vulnerable people is in my opinion the challenge of our generation.

‘It is a huge task that we are faced with.’

He added: ‘Firstly, for this challenge to be overcome there needs to be a high likelihood that offenders will be caught and victims supported.

‘I am confident that we are getting this right, we will never stop pursuing those responsible, and we will throw everything we can at them and we will catch them.

Immature teenagers were plied with drugs and alcohol and then raped or persuaded into engaging in sexual activity with older men

A huge haul of drugs was recovered as part of the massive police investigation into the ring

‘Secondly, we need a heavy sanction that acts as a clear deterrent and to deliver punishment to those vile individuals that prey on the vulnerable.

‘Thirdly, and most importantly, it has to become socially unacceptable in every community to behave in this way.

‘Given the number of men that we have arrested 461 in total, clearly somewhere along the line something has gone wrong if it has become acceptable to entice, through alcohol, drugs or just through bullying and violence, vulnerable people into sex.

‘This behaviour can never be tolerated.’

A total of 17 men and one woman have been convicted of, or have admitted, charges including rape, supplying drugs and inciting prostitution, in a series of trials at Newcastle Crown Court.